The present invention relates generally to soil sampling and more particularly, to a system and method of soil sampling to determine the nutrient level of soil in fields so that a variable-rate nutrient pattern or prescription can be generated for a particular field.
The present invention also relates generally to a system and method for tracking farm product applied to a field and generating prescription maps based on a unique identifier scanned from a container containing the farm product.
The present invention also relates to a system and method in which soil samples can be ordered through work orders issued by various farming companies across vast geographic areas, processed, tracked, and results reported back to the farming companies for further processing and use.
The agricultural industry uses soil samples to determine the nutrient level of soil in fields. Soil sampling and testing provides an estimate of the capacity of the soil to supply adequate nutrients to meet the needs of growing crops. In some instances, the test results are compared to standard response data associated with specific types of crops to estimate the need to supply additional nutrients for optimum crop production. The test results are then used as a basis for profitable and environmentally responsible fertilizer application.
Typically, about a teaspoonful of soil is actually used for laboratory analysis. That small amount represents the entire area for which the fertilizer recommendation is made for that particular area. Several soil samples are typically taken from a given field and represent an area of the field. The soil samples are often taken using different soil sampling pattern options. A grid pattern is usually the best way to ensure that the entire field is represented. In this form, a given field is divided up into various cells with each cell representing an area of the field. For illustrative purposes only, a sixty acre field could be divided up into thirty cells with each cell representing two acres of the field. A sample is taken from each cell to generate a representative nutrient map of the field.
Currently, most soil samplers use a computer to guide them to the correct location of the field from which samples are taken. The soil samplers use a probe to take the soil sample and the soil is then placed in a container which is sent to a lab for soil analysis. The soil samplers must have some way of identifying one container from another. One way to do this is to handwrite specific information on each container. For example, each container may have handwritten material placed on them identifying a client name, farm name, field name and a sample identification. This method is very time consuming and can be filled with errors at the lab by misreading the written information.
A second way is to print labels ahead of time in the office and take them out to the field when gathering samples. After each soil probe, the soil sampler applies a label to the container, thereby distinguishing it from other containers. This method is also problematic because of the tendency to put the wrong label on the container and it is also time consuming. When the soil sampler is done collecting the samples they are shipped off to the lab where the samples can be processed and fertilizer recommendations can be made. Both of the above-described techniques for container identification are very time consuming for lab technicians as well as the soil samplers. Receiving containers with either handwritten information or printed labels causes the lab technicians to have to re-enter this information into a computer at the lab. This is also another area in which mistakes are easily made thereby causing samples to fail to get matched up with the right information. Once the samples are processed or analyzed at the lab, the test results are sent to the customer who may then import that data into a software application for processing of application maps for fertilizer or other farming operations.
If a farming company wants to obtain a soil sample, typically a call is placed to a soil sampling company and an order is placed over the phone. The soil sampling company will then take the samples and send the samples to a laboratory. This process can take some time and generally requires the soil sampling company to maintain an office in the general geographic location in which the field is located. As such, a need exists for a system in which a soil sampling company can be located in one location yet service farm companies or farmers across an entire country or region.
Currently, in the agriculture industry, a farmer that wants to record what type of seed gets planted or what type of chemical gets applied to a field has to enter the information about the particular seeds or chemicals manually into a field computer. The field computer is programmed to prompt the farmer to enter information about the product being planted or applied and then the farmer can either type that information in or select a product from a drop down menu or list that appears on the field computer. If the farmer switches to a different seed, or chemical, and continues operation, the field computer will continue to record as if it is the previous seed or chemical resulting in bad data. Sometimes, if the name of the product is manually entered, the name gets entered wrong or the wrong product can get selected from the dropdown menu or list.
Also, currently systems available today require that a predetermined application map be made ahead of time and loaded into the field computer at some point in the process. If the application map is not available, the farmer has to stop and wait for the application map or applies the product without the map. As such, a need exists for farmers to be able to plant crop or apply chemicals “on the fly” without the need to wait for application maps.